Nearly every electronic device in modern society employs some type of battery as a primary or backup power source. Battery life is extremely important, as it generally determines how long the associated electronic device can operate without recharging. In space-constrained enclosures, the overall size of the battery and the space available in which the battery may be placed directly influence the operational life of the electronic device.
However, the current trend is to make portable electronic devices ever smaller. Maintaining an acceptable battery life for such devices is crucial, and is in direct tension with the drive to reduce device size. In many modern portable electronic devices, the battery may occupy as much as 50% or more of a product's interior volume. Thus, increasing the volume available to the battery may be useful, in that it may extend the overall operational time of the electronic device. Accordingly, it is desirable to configure the battery and related electronics to minimize the space around the battery, which in turn permits more space to be taken up by a larger battery. If tolerances for, and space occupied by, other internal electronic components can be minimized, then more space may be devoted to the battery.